Remember, this is just shortly after the season 2 finale and Klaus' diabolical actions are still on everyone's mind. If you aren't watching, The Originals, this story will kind of ruin season 2 for you. So go back and watch it and THEN read this! :) As it is now on Netflix, you can easily access it. Season 1 is pretty good, but season 2 is AWESOME!

Chapter 2: First Meetings

******Where We Left Off******

Elijah waited more impatiently than usual. The past two weeks of being in his brother's presence, his rage grew. Niklaus showed no remorse. He expected Elijah to simply get over what he'd done. It was infuriating how little his brother truly understood him. Unlike Niklaus, Elijah never took a lover lightly. He could go entire decades without one. To him sex required intimacy and intimacy trust. Without trust, he would never allow a woman to be so close. Gia had been special; she'd been gifted and so brave. Elijah appreciated also how passionate and stubborn she had been. He had cared for her. Not the way he did Hayley, but she mattered to him. It wasn't right the way Niklaus snuffed out her life without a real moment of regret.

He loved his brother—he did. However, he no longer had faith that his brother could be trusted to do what was best for his family and his city. He was forever the lone wolf. No matter how much Elijah tried to stay close to him, no matter how much he encouraged his brother to confide in him, Niklaus still went off and did what he deemed best. It mattered little how many people he hurt in the process. Elijah was done trying to save him. Now, he was just going to focus on containing him.

Rupert Giles assured him that the slayer he was sending was the strongest one in history. Rupert loved her like a daughter and was confident that she could help Elijah. He wouldn't tell Elijah much about her, just that she was immortal because the slayer line was anchored in her. It was a surprising development of the spell their witch had used to activate all the potential slayers.

Rupert had sent him a photo of Buffy Summers so that he'd know what she looked like. He looked down at his phone. She was beautiful. However, her eyes were old and held pain. Elijah didn't want to be the source of more pain for the woman. For a moment, he regretted calling her in. Then he thought of Haley and Hope. For them, he'd do just about anything.

Her flight was disembarking. He moved closer to the gate she was supposed to come out of as people began to come out. There she was. When she started looking around, he held up his hand and got her attention. She walked toward him, stopping a few feet from him.

"Elijah Mikaelson?" she asked.

"I am. You must be Buffy Summers," he said, holding out his hand.

She gave him a warm smile, and he was struck by her beauty. Her green eyes and blonde hair reminded him of Camille, but her features were finer and more delicate. She was so small for such a reputable warrior—it was surprising.

"I haven't met any slayers before, but you're not what I expected," he admitted.

"Well, I have met a few hot vampires, and you're totally what I expected," she said with a mischievous grin.

Elijah was so taken aback by her response that he was momentarily speechless.

She laughed at his discomfort. "I'm sorry. Didn't Giles warn you that I'm incorrigible?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

For the first time in ages, Elijah smiled a genuine smile. "He must've forgotten to mention it," Elijah said in amusement. "You are going to drive my brother mad."

"I've been known to do that to more than one homicidal vamp," she said smugly. Giles had filled her in enough to know that Elijah's brother was a hybrid with impulse control issues.

"Can I take your bag?" Elijah asked, gesturing to her small case on wheels.

"No, I got it," she said, smiling at his chivalry. It'd been a long time since a man tried to help her. When men found out about her powers, they usually assumed that she never needed help with anything. "But thanks. It's been a long time since a guy's offered."

"Yes, men have grown quite ill-mannered," he remarked.

"So what's your plan?" Buffy asked as she followed him out of the airport.

"I thought I'd buy you dinner, and we could talk," he said.

"Sounds great. My friends told me the food in this city is to die for," she said eagerly.

"I know just the place," Elijah said. He hailed a cab. In the car ride, Buffy chatted about her travels in Europe, asking him of the places he'd been. She was surprisingly easy to talk to. She asked questions and actually listened to his response.

When they arrived at Rousseau's, he held out his hand to help her out of the cab. She smiled and took it. Her hand felt familiar somehow—it was strange and disconcerting. He released it as soon as she was out of the car.

"I have a friend of sort who works here. She's the rare human that has some actual influence over my brother," Elijah shared.

"Are they lovers?" Buffy inquired.

"No. However, in some ways, she is closer than one. Niklaus doesn't let lovers get close to him. He doesn't let them in, but he's allowed her to know him. Truly know him," Elijah said as he opened the door. "She's got a way about her that inspires confidence. I myself have shared things with her when I barely knew her."

"She knows how to make broody, tortured vampires bare their souls? I'm going to have to learn her secrets," Buffy said with a grin.

"She is a graduate student, studying psychology," Elijah said, flashing her a smile.

"Great! I knew I should've gone to grad school," she said. His smile remained as he held the door open for her.

"Elijah," Cami said, smiling at the new arrivals. "Can I get you and your friend a table?"

Buffy looked at the taller blonde with interest. She had a warm, welcoming air about her.

"Camille, this is Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is Camille O'Connell," Elijah introduced.

Buffy gave a small wave. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"It's great to meet you, too," Cami said. "Follow me." She led them to a table. "So I've not seen you before. Are you new in town?"

"Yep. This is my first time to New Orleans," Buffy said.

Elijah surprised Buffy by saying, "She's a vampire slayer. I've called her here to deal with Niklaus."

Cami's mouth fell open in shock. "You brought someone here to kill your brother?" she asked.

"No, of course not," Elijah said easily.

"My skill set isn't something I usually advertise," Buffy said, giving Elijah a pointed look.

"Cami is our friend. She can be trusted," Elijah said simply.

"Yeah, once your brother bites me and speaks psychically to me, it makes me a part of the club," Cami said with a wry smile.

Buffy moved her collar slightly to show a scar. "I'm familiar with that particular move. Minus the psychic connection, though," Buffy said. "The vampires I kill are demons and, fortunately, don't have that particular skill set."

"Okay, so what can you do?" Cami asked. Then she quickly added, "I mean what's the plan?"

"The plan is to keep Niklaus off balance. It's to bring a new player into the mix that he cannot intimidate or control," Elijah answered.

Cami looked unsure. "He never reacts well to new people," she reminded him. "Don't forget how he reacted to Feya, and she is his actual sister."

Buffy looked at him with interest. "A real head case, huh?" she asked.

"You don't know the half of it," Cami said. "I have a graduate degree in psychology, and I can rarely get through to him."

"Yet you succeed where so many fail," Elijah said, a note of admiration in his voice.

She looked embarrassed and handed them menus. "Yeah, well, he still almost killed me," she said grimly. "I actually believed he'd never hurt me. I was a naïve fool."

Buffy felt sympathetic. She'd loved a vampire once that she believed would never hurt her until he did. Actually, they both did. Some betrayals never leave you no matter how much time passes.

"Camille, if you are going to care about my brother, you are going to be hurt. It's what he does—hurt those closest to him," Elijah warned her.

Seeking to distill the sudden tension, Buffy asked, "So what do you recommend?"

They both said, "The gumbo."

Buffy grinned. "Gumbo it is," she said.

"I'll have the same," Elijah said.

So Buffy spent her first evening in New Orleans having dinner with a very charming vampire.

*****The Mikaelson Compound*****

As Elijah led Buffy into their home, he told her, "I think it's best if we not tell my siblings what you are—not at first, anyway."

"I'm good with that," she said, giving him a mischievous smile. "I like to keep'em guessing."

"Trying to figure you out will occupy Niklaus. He's going to be mad with frustration," Elijah said, enjoying the thought. "My sister Freya is still relatively unknown. We thought she was dead long ago. We had no idea our witch aunt was keeping her in slumber a hundred years at time, only to let her live a year at a time."

Buffy winced. "Ouch. That's rough. How is she sane?" she asked.

"Who says she is?" a voice asked. Buffy looked up and saw a devilishly handsome man standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He was smiling, flashing dimples. The dimples were unexpected. She'd never known evil to have dimples.

"That's no way to speak of our sister," Elijah said disapprovingly.

Klaus gave Elijah a grin. Instinctively, Buffy knew he enjoyed baiting his older brother immensely. She found her sense of fun responding to the man she was meant to keep on a leash.

She had a feeling this was not going to be easy.

******Chapter End******

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